Memorial Day Weekend

Jo was here for the weekend, so we all went to Cambridge on Sunday to visit Maggie. First stop: where else? Berryline for some frozen yogurt for everyone.

Then it was on to a playground that CL and I hadn't visited before. It's probably impossible to read the text on this marker, but the playground was appropriate for the weekend. The marker states that the "totlot" was dedicated to the memory of a soldier from Cambridge who died in Germany during WW2.

Maggie tried a full range of equipment, from the swings

to a little car, both as a ride-on

and a push toy,

to a slide (with CL),

and, finally, to a crawl through tunnel with Jeremy.

Afterward we went back to J&A's house and just hung out for a while

until everyone surprised me with a slightly early birthday cake.

And, of course, another Cambridge flower picture, this one from a traffic island.

Marge & Jack

Cousins Marge & Jack (technically, I guess Jack is my cousin-in-law) visited last Thursday and Friday on their way from Florida to Connecticut (it was an indirect route).

One of the meals we enjoyed with them was grilled boneless leg of lamb, curried basmati rice, and broccoli salad. It tasted even better than it looked.

A Couple More Birds

and a squirrel.

Hot

It was hot today. I think this is accurate, and it wasn't in the sun.

I was supposed to be cleaning the second floor, as a final step in last winter's construction activities and also in preparation for opening the 78 Firglade B&B for the weekend.

So what I really did was take pictures of CL's garden (a poppy)

and the cherry tree next door

because it is currently under attack from a variety of birds. I got a couple decent pictures of cedar waxwings, but there were also catbirds, robins, starlings, and redbellied woodpeckers.

Aurora & Jesse's Baby Shower

On Sunday, a group of J & A's friends had a baby shower for them; that's the main reason we were hanging around Pittsburgh for the previous couple days. Here are the guests of honor, separately and together,

and the views from the back yard and of many of the crowd.

Other than food and beverages, the main activity was painting onesies for the expected child. Here are Nestor painting and a sample completed one.

And, of course, there were gifts for the parents-to-be.

This one is a baby "I spy" quilt created by CL.

Pittsburgh, Day 2

Jesse and Aurora were busy again today, so CL got to visit her favorite type store - quilting. Here she is selecting and then delivering her stash for purchase.

Then we stopped by a winery, La Casa Narcisi, one that we'd visited about five years ago and that we'd liked very much. The grapes are grown up by Lake Erie (still in PA), and the winery is just outside Pittsburgh.

A church somewhere in Pittsburgh.

Dinner with J & A: yuppie pizza and beer. The beers: Stoudt's Scarlet Lady Ale and Yard's IPA. Both are Pennsylvania breweries.

I can't identify each one, but there are four different pizzas on this plate.

Pittsburgh

We're in Pittsburgh this weekend visiting Jesse and Aurora. While they were at work today, as usual for a visit here, we went to the strip for shopping and food.

No; we didn't try this. I keep taking pictures of others' names, so I decided it was time for my own.

We had lunch at Enrico's. CL had pasta pomodoro and mine was carbonara. Note the classy wine glasses; they now sell Carlo's Garage wines by the glass.

A mural on the wall of the building across the street from J&A's house:

And the standard flower pictures (their front yard).

Another Day in Paradise

We're in Cambridge again -- this afternoon we visited Berryline and the playground.

And a couple shots along the way.